


Warrior Heart

by QueenOfNightmare



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 3
Genre: Adventure, Animal Attack, Attempted Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Dark, Drug Use, Enemies, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Human Trafficking, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Far Cry 3, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rescue Missions, Rook Islands, Some Humor, Torture, Vaas is crazy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27378409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNightmare/pseuds/QueenOfNightmare
Summary: A cargo ship headed for Indonesia is attacked midway through the voyage causing surviving crew members to flee to the closest piece of land: Rook Island. Now Diana Shepherd must do whatever it takes to save her friends from the deranged inhabitants of the island, whilst avoiding capture from a particular pirate king that has his eyes on her. Vaas Montenegro.
Relationships: Vaas Montenegro/Original Character(s), Vaas Montenegro/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	1. VOYAGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey begins after one last night of partying in Bangkok. But trouble is brewing on the horizon

Bangkok was buzzing, colourful and full of life. Especially Soi Cowboy. The street was party central for any tourist, bars, dancing, women. It was a wild night for all. As it was for crew members of the U.S MAXIMUS. The ship was nothing special, just an old small cargo ship but it got the job done. Captained by Henry Carver and his first mate Alfie Shepherd. The two met in the States and decided to start a business together, providing long haul boat journeys and cargo deliveries.

This current venture was to Indonesia, the crew had only decided on one last night out before they cast away much to the young crew members delight. They all gave thanks to Diana, Alfie’s niece. Diana was a woman aged 25 on her 7th long haul journey. Her hair was long reaching midway down her back and shimmer bright like gold, whilst her round curious eyes were hazel, a colour acquired from her dad. After Diana’s father passed away Alfie took the girl in, raising her and teaching her all she knew. At 16 she became interested in her uncles business undergoing a business course in college to help further the company. She brought joy as well as business to the company, being a very upbeat and bubbly person. It was as if she brought a smile to everyone's face when she walked into a room. And smiles were certainly on everyone's faces with this night out.

The pub that crew were drinking in was rousing, with music blaring out and colourful lights flashing. Diana had been dancing wildly with the others before fanning herself deciding to take a quick brake and drunkenly swayed towards her Uncle and Henry, who were sat off at a table taking things much slower than their younger crew members.

“You’re not joining in?” Diana slurred drunkenly, plunking herself down. Alfie chuckled and gently balanced her from sliding out the seat with a wide grin on his weathered face. This journey chalked up his list to 58 voyages in his 56 years of life. By now his dark hair had greyed and his well built body had started to fade but his energetic life shined through his steel blue eyes.

“I thought this was joining in,” he smirked raising his half-drunk bottle of beer.

“That’s nothing! Shanaid, go get some shots!” Diana shouted over the music waving a wad of cash to the brunette. Shanaid, a woman of 20, stumbled over after an obvious night of taking full advantage of the legal drinking age of Bangkok. Though the law never stopped her in America she was thankful to not be too careful or watch over her shoulder for the cops. After all the young brunette was definitely born to be a party animal. She grasped the notes, proclaiming she was getting tequila before marching back to the bar.

“None for us,” Henry smiled shaking his head jokingly, “We know it’s better not to have a hangover on the boat”.

“We’re not gonna be hungover, don’t worry,” Diana grinned, even though she knew they all most likely will.

“Sure you aren’t,” Henry chuckled before his brow furrowed, “Can you keep an eye on Shanaid, make sure she doesn’t make any rash decisions,” he asked, glancing over to his daughter. This was her first journey but she saw it as one big party and Henry didn’t really approve how short her skirt was.

“I swear as a loyal friend I will keep her safe from all harm,” she swore, placing one hand over her heart with the other held in the air.

“Thank you,” he nodded before downing the last of his beer and stood to his feet, “Well, we best be off”.

“Have a good night,” Alfie whispered into Diana’s ear whilst secretly passing her a small wad of hundred dollar bills. She winked in appreciation as he patted her head, walking off beside Henry whilst ignoring the calls from random women. Diana watched them walk out only snapping out her trance when a tray was slammed on the table.

“SHOTS! S-H-O-T-S! SHOTS!,” Shanaid bragged, pointing to each shot as she spelt out the word before glancing around confused, “Wait where did my dad go?”.

“He and my uncle retired for the night,” Diana answered as Luke, Audrey and a few other younger crew members sat down in the booth.

“Old men,” Audrey joked snuggling into Siddiq, her current boyfriend whilst picking up two shots for the both of them. Her smooth dark brown her that was always tied back hung on her shoulders as her green eyes gleamed at Siddiq who stared lovingly back at her with his brown almost black eyes.

“They’ve just got to finalise preparations for tomorrow,” Luke explained looking wearily at the shots.

“No more talk, fancy boy. Come on take one,” Siddiq grinned evilly. Luke only responded with a weak ‘er’ until Diana placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, please, just one,” Diana begged, giving him puppy eyes. Luke tightened his lip but eventually it broke out to a grin and took the shot from her hand.

“Well, to weeks at sea and the last night to get shit faced on land!,” Shanaid toasted, raising the shot in the air.

“I’ll drink to that!” Diana cheered as they all clinked their glasses together.

“SALUD!,”.

———————————————————————————————————————————

The night had been wild, wilder than any of them had experienced before. Audrey made everyone tense when they moved to the second bar with a fight nearly braking out between her and some random woman that had been flirting heavily with Siddiq. Shanaid had to be pulled off a rather charming looking man when he got too handsy. Luke made many laugh, drinking more than the others. In the fourth bar they attended he had downed a flamed shot, leapt on the bar before ripping open his shirt whilst screaming he was a “fire god”. Diana though definitely had regrets about her actions. The same bar had stripper dancing poles inside and out and with the booze in her system, she had unceremoniously removed her button-up shirt to reveal her lacy black bra and started dancing whilst her short shorts raised a little high. She gained quite the crowd. And a beneficial $267.

Diana moaned and brushed her blonde hair out of her face, rising up from the messy strewn of sheets. Somehow they all managed to make it back to the hotel and Diana made the smart decision to drink some water before sleeping but there still remained a slight ache in the back of her head.

“Come in!” she called at the sound of knocking at the door.

The door cracked open as a head popped through. “You alright?” Alfie chuckled, carrying over a small plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and slightly browned toast.

“As good as I look,” she grinned back. Alfie smirked shaking his head before sitting down at the edge of her bed whilst carefully passing the plate of food.

“Take it last night was fun?” he questioned as Diana hungrily bit into a strip of bacon. She almost moaned in delight at the strip; smokey and crispy: her favourite.

“The best,” she mumbled, shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth. “You and Henry get up to anything exciting?”.

“Few drinks, went over some supplies, watched some football and went to bed. Though I heard y’all when you came back,” he listed watching his niece sheepishly look away at the last bit. Alfie had spent almost an hour carrying the various drunk members back to their rooms as well as clean up a vase one of them smashed. He patted her leg before standing back to his feet, “Well, you eat up and then go on wake up duty. Boat’s leaving at 3, have everyone out by 2,”.

Diana raised her hand and saluted him, “Aye aye, captain,”.

After Alfie left, Diana rapidly ate her breakfast wanting to be rid of the horrible taste of alcohol in her mouth. As soon as she finished, she jumped in the shower and brushed her teeth before pulling on a new set of clothes.

Diana stepped out from her room and began her journey down the hallway. Her first stop was Audrey. She knocked quietly at first but when no response came she knocked even louder. A sly smile had grown on her face when Siddiq answered the door, with a trail of hickeys down his neck that certainly weren’t there the previous night.

Her next stop was Shanaid’s room only to slow when Henry exited it with his hair ruffled. When Diana asked what happened Henry chuckled and stated that she had thrown a pillow at him when he tried to wake her. She giggled and shook her head, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Let me try,” she smirked, braving the young woman’s room.

“Heh, good luck,” he muttered with raised brows before marching down the hallway. The room was a tip. Half her clothes were hanging out her suitcase and her dressing table was littered with multiple makeup products. Shanaid herself was flat on her stomach, cocooned in the bedsheets. Her chocolate brown hair was splayed out like a thousand snakes at the head of the bed since the pillow sat crumbled against the wall from when she had thrown it earlier.

“Shanaid, it’s time to get up,” Diana spoke softly sitting down beside the sleeping girl on her bed. 

Shanaid only buried herself further into her quilt muttering, “I don’t wanna”.

“Shanaid!” the blonde spoke even louder, rapidly shaking her for a few seconds.

Shanaid flipped over onto her back before snapping her eyes open, acting like she was possessed, “In the name of Lucifer: let her sleep!” she growled back jokingly in an inhuman voice.

“Demon! Release thy friends body before I douse thee in HOLY WATER!” Diana proclaimed, leaping to her feet and displaying a bottle of water she secretly brought in like it was a grand weapon. Shanaid hissed and raised her hands up, presenting her nails like an animal baring its claws before bounding straight for her bathroom.

“Ha, be ready by 2! Got it!?” Diana laughed pressing her ear against the bathroom door.

“Got it!,” she heard Shanaid respond before a steady flow of the shower reached her ears.

She quickly made her way to room 78 and knocked more quietly than the others.

“Hey, Luke? Rise and shine,” she called slowly pushing open his door to find his bed messy and empty. His clothes from the previous night had been thrown across the room and she stifled a laugh when she spotted his boxers on the lampshade. “Luke,” she called out glancing around confused before hearing someone throwing up in the ensuite. Without hesitation and a small grin on her face, Diana opened the door to find Luke on his knees headfirst into the toilet, wearing only a pair of sweatpants.

“You alright there?” she giggled as he rose his head. A small grimace etched it’s way on her face as she spotted a trail of saliva and sick drool from his mouth as it also appeared he was slightly a skin tone lighter than his usual olive complexion.

“Don’t never _ever_ let me drink again,” he moaned before retching back into the toilet, “Please ... kill me”.

“Hmm, maybe later,” Diana joked, placing the bottle of water she had threatened Shanaid with and a pack of painkillers beside him. “Make sure you’re ready at 2, boat leaves at 3”.

“Yay,”. She heard him moan out as she left him to get ready.

Eventually, everyone was up and out of their rooms enjoying breakfast in the dining hall. Andre, the crew's chef, had decided to tease everyone by loudly singing as he served, dancing around them as he passed plate after plate. When he was told to shut up he feigned being insulted, claiming his African ancestors did it when they claimed a meal.

By 3 the cargo ship had left port. Shanaid pretended to cry waving a white cloth to land like she was seeing it for the last time, causing Diana to laugh at her silly antics. Audrey had been hard at work down in the engines whilst Siddiq checked over supplies in the med bay. Henry remained in the captains cabin, steering the ship on course as Alfie listed off the cargo in the hull. Luke hadn’t emerged from his chambers being let off early when he was unable to soothe his pounding headache.

After 2 weeks went by they were halfway on their voyage. On this particular night, the crew had been celebrating Siddiq’s 27th birthday. Everyone had given him presents and Andre had cooked up a feast inspired by Siddiq’s home country of Kyrat, along with a huge cake. As the party went on into the night Diana had made her way on deck when the crew had begun singing ‘Show me the way to go home’.

Resting her arms on the railing she took a deep breath of the crisp sea air when she heard footsteps behind her.

“Want some company?” Shanaid asked as she leaned her back against the railing.

“Couldn’t stand my uncles singing?” Diana smirked, glancing over to the girl beside her.

“More like my dads. How he won that karaoke competition last year I will never know,” she shuddered before grinning.

Diana let out a smile laugh whilst staring over the lapping waves when Shanaid tapped her shoulder, pointing down onto the lower deck. Leaning rather close to the rail was Audrey and Siddiq making out unaware of their presence.

“Watch this,” Shanaid whispered evilly before yelling out in a cockney British accent, “Oi! Knock it off you two! You keep making out like that we’re not gonna notice if any icebergs get to close!”.

“Fuck off!” Audrey angrily yelled back causing the women to snicker and sneak away.

“My that is a very good British accent, it almost tops mine,” Diana spoke in a posh voice as they walked side by side to the back of the ship. When Shanaid didn’t respond Diana glanced over to her to see a solemn look on her face. “Hey, you alright?”.

“I just …,” Shanaid tried to begin only to stop. It was strange for the young woman to be so unconfident making Diana place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Shanaid smiled in appreciation before continuing, “Well, I’m not sure this journey’s gonna be good”.

“What do you mean?” Diana asked, questionably raising a brow.

“I mean good for me. I don’t think this job is gonna be for me,” she explained looming down at her feet, “My dad, he … I know he wants me to carry on the family business but … I don’t know if I like this life”.

“Well, this is your first voyage. You’re bound to be nervous,” the older woman spoke softly, slightly nodding her head to the side.

“Yea but … maybe if dad spent more time at home, like in America, then he and mom might still be together,” Shanaid sighed sadly. Her parent's marriage had grown rocky when Henry began the business only for it to end in divorce. Though the two remained on good terms for their child’s sake. “How that gonna work for any relationship I wanna be in. No guy is gonna wait for me to come home only for 3 weeks before shipping off again”.

Diana understood where she was coming from. Most of the guys she’s met didn’t want to wait for her after having sex. But someone young like Shanaid who wanted to find love would be held back and only postpone that. “You have your whole life to find love but if you don’t feel like this is for you, you should really speak with your dad. He’d want you to be honest,” she uttered before giving the brunette a grin, “Besides, one benefit with this job you get to see the world. I mean Bangkok is fun but it’s a whole new world with Indonesia. Trust me, you’re gonna love it,” Diana reassured, bumping her shoulder against Shanaid’s.

“Yeah, can’t wait,” Shanaid smiled sweetly before looking back out to the sea.

Diana let out a yawn whilst stretching her arms over her head, “Well, I’m retiring for the night. See you in the morning”.

“Night!,” Shanaid called as Diana walked away.

Back in her cabin Diana didn’t bother changing out of her clothes. She pulled off her flannel and remained in her tan shorts and grey tank top before flopping onto her bed. With a quick readjustment to the pillow under her head she grabbed her iPod and placed the headphones into her ears, closing her eyes whilst gently tapping her hand to the beat of “Africa” by Toto.

Meanwhile, not too far away, a small island was filled with bone-chilling screams. Cries and pleads for mercy that were met on deaf ears. A man on his knees wearing a fishing hat blubbered and pleaded to the man before him

“Please, let me go! Let me go-,” a gunshot rang out and the sound of a body flopping to the dirt followed.

“Told you, hermano,” the shooter chuckled, hoisting his gun, “you should've run”. He pulled out a cigarette from its pack and lit it up only to hear heavy footsteps behind him.

“Vaas!,” Carlos yelled as he ran over to the man, “A cargo ship’s just been spotted ... on the south side of the island!”.

Vaas slowly turned his head to Carlos with a wicked grin growing on his lips and smoke blowing through his teeth. A glimmer of excitement flashed through his emerald green eyes, “Show me”.

A quick march down to the beach Carlos pointed towards the ship not that far in the distance. Other pirates stood to attention as Vaas stared through some binoculars to get a better look. There were some lights on and very few on deck before his gaze drifted down to the side of the ship only just making out the words MAXIMUS painted on in chipped white paint.

“Hhmmm, you think an RPG can make that?,” Vaas wondered out loud, tossing the binoculars to a pirate behind him.

“Probably,” Carlos shrugged, sharing Vaas’ devious grin.

“Get mine and four more,” he ordered, jittering on his feet in excitement. Not to later Vaas had his RPG in his hands as did four other pirates all stood in a line.

“Aim for the hull, I want that ship sunk!,” Vaas barked. He steadied his arms and planted his feet into the sand as the men followed his lead and aimed through their sights.

A small smile grew on Vaas’ face as he squeezed the trigger, “Welcome to the jungle,”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first chapter of my Far Cry 3 fanfic. I actually haven't written anything fanfic wise in a while so I may be a little rusty but it will most likely come back in due course.
> 
> I just currently have the hots for Michael Mando at the moment and with the Corona-Virus delaying the final season of Better Call Saul (thanks a lot) and I can't see Nacho for a while so I'm moving onto the close second, Vaas.
> 
> So yeah, hope y'all enjoy. Let's go on this crazy adventure together


	2. SEPARATION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew of the Maximus are thrusted into terror at a sudden attack in the night

Pain shuddered through Diana’s body when she was launched from her bed. She shook her head trying to rid herself of a sharp ring in her ears, clutching onto her bed she pulled herself to her feet stumbling towards her cabin door. Another explosion shook the ship forcing her to seize the wall to avoid tumbling down, running up the stair to the top deck. Rain cut against her face like knives as wind whipped her hair around when she stared over the edge of a boat. Her eyes doubling in horror at the sight of object shooting above the waves and slam into the hull causing a noise like nails on a chalkboard to ring out.

Below deck Audrey sprinted away from the hull, her navy jumpsuit soaked from head to toe in salt water with others following her all terrified for their lives. She quickly let as many as she could through a doorway before turning a wheel that slammed the steel door shut to stop the flow of water and regrettably locking anyone else inside.

“Go! Get the fuck on the top deck!” She ordered the few survivors before rushing over to the closes microphone as they all clambered up the stairs.

“HENRY! We’re taking on water down here and fast!” Audrey shouted into the microphone, pushing her soaked hair out of her face, “I don’t want to be on this ship when it reaches the engine”.

“How long do we have?!” Henry questioned from his place in the captain’s cabin after rapidly tried to reach coastguard on the radio.

“30 minutes if we’re lucky”, she answered only to crash against the wall at another explosion. Her frantic eyes looked back to the shut door to see streams of water starting to burst through, “Best make that 10”.

Henry bit his lip in anger, pushing a button to cast his voice over the speaker system, “Everyone! Make your way to the lifeboats! Repeat! This is not a drill! Make your ways to the life boats!”. Henry turned to the radio and started spinning the dial before speaking, “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Coast guard! This is the U.S Maximus. We’ve been struck by an unidentified object and are taking on water fast. Require immediate assistance”.

“Coast guard here, what’s your location?” a static voice answered.

Henry panted pressing the button to answer but immediately stopped at something launched in the direction of the cabin.

“SHIT!” he bellowed, leaping from his seat and out the door as another RPG grenade blasted through the cabin, launching Henry into the air as he fell to the lower deck. The rain quickly put out the fire licking his clothes as the captain’s cabin was set ablaze.

Diana hurried back down to the cabins, eyes pooling with more fear by the second when Henry’s announcement rung over the speakers. She had to check for others. Every room she checked had been empty until she reached Shanaid’s. When she shoved the door open she found the girl cowering in the corner, arms wrapped around herself petrified beyond belief and clutching onto the feather pendent on her necklace.

“Shanaid! What are you doing!?” Diana yelled, tugging the frightened girl from her spot. She blubbered and shook, grasping tight onto Diana shirt.

“What the fuck is going on!?” she screamed as Diana pushed a life vest over the young woman’s head.

“We’ve gotta get to the lifeboats!” Diana answered, grasping Shanaid’s hand in hers before pulling her out of the room. The darted down the hallway reaching the stairs when they met a shut door. Luke had already been standing there trying to use all his strength to push it open.

“The door! It’s stuck!” he yelled, turning to face them as terror set on his face.

“Together!” Diana ordered as she pressed herself against the steel door. Luke and Shanaid followed swiftly as all three of them pushed with all their strength. It groaned and creaked before giving way, soaking the trio in the rain. Diana took Shanaid’s hand again and ran down the deck, Luke rapidly following them as they made their way to the back of the ship to the life boats. Luke managed to sprint past them when they reached the midway point on the ship. Only for Shanaid to pull Diana to an abrupt stop when a massive crack stretched across the ship.

“Diana! Shanaid!” Luke hollered when he noticed they stopped.

Shanaid shook her head, clutching Diana’s arm as she stared at the menacing crack in the splintered wood. “I can’t-- I can’t do this,” she whimpered, grasping hard and unknowingly dug her nails into her flesh.

“Shanaid! You’ve got to!” Diana yelled, grabbing the girl by her shoulders, “I’ll be right behind you! Luke! Help her!”.

Luke quickly hurried back whilst keeping a safe distance from the gap not wanting to risk falling through. Shanaid panted and quaked carefully creeping closer as Diana pushed her forwards. Luke stretched out his hand begging Shanaid to trust him. “Come on, Shanaid! You can do it!”. Taking a deep breath, Diana shoved the girl forwards forcing her to leap across the gap and into Luke’s arms. He grasped her tightly and pushed her behind him before turning back to Diana.

“Come on, Diana! Jump!” he pleaded, reaching as far as he could. Her hazel eyes drifted back over the side on the ship when she spotted an object soaring in their direction.

“GET BACK!” she screamed, moving out of the way. Luke quickly tugged Shanaid away as the grenade exploded forcing them off their feet.

Diana cracked her head against the wood when an awful crunching noise reached all ears. With the wind whipping her face Diana raised her head to see the deck had been cracked with a sizable gap missing from where Luke and Shanaid where standing appearing like a gaping mouth littered with gnashing teeth all the way down to the crashing waves below. The ship had been split in two and started to tip inwards. Items and people started to slid down into the ice jaws below causing her to quickly rise to her feet before she could slip any further.

“DIANA!” she heard someone scream. Across the other side stood Alfie, clutching a rope in one hand to stop him falling with the other stretched out in front of him. His clothes clenched his body as blood seeped down from his forehead. “JUMP!”.

Letting out a shaky breath Diana tightened her lip, backing up slightly. With one last breath she broke out into a sprint desperately praying she doesn’t slip, taking her leap of faith. But she didn’t make it. Her body slammed into thousands of tiny wooden needles retching a scream from her lips. Her black nails dug into the chipped piece of ship just a few feet from the top deck. Diana arms shook like jelly at her dwindling strength, crying out as her uncle leaned over the gap.

“Diana, reach! Come on girl!” he yelled, sticking his arm down desperately trying to reach her. Diana released one hand from the ship and reached up, feeling the rain wet her other occupied hand. Their fingers continuously grazed each other but always remained out of reach, “Diana, reach! Come on, honey, REACH!”.

“I -- I can’t!” she wept, the grip on her hand starting to lessen. A sudden twang sound reached her ears as cables beside her began to snap. With the last bit of strength, she pulled herself up reaching for her uncle’s hand when he suddenly pulled away. A painful grunt departed from his mouth as a lone cable whipped up and smacked him across his forehead compelling him fall backwards and out of her sight.

Diana’s hand slipped and she only gasped. The realisation had dawned. She could feel nothing under her. Even air seemed to have vanished. Her hands flapped above her as her legs kicked out. She was powerless against gravity; falling down to the waves below.

The searing agony rushing through her body caused her to scream, releasing out the only air she had. Desperate for all she clawed to the surface, swimming towards the light. Braking the surface, she tried to inhale but choked on rancid sea water instead. The waves battered and beat her, dragging her away from the sinking ship to the open sea. She struggled to stay above until she was tugged back under, eyes stinging from the saltiness of the water. They widened at the tightening sensation in her throat from no air, bursting back above.

She coughed and hacked, not even noticing she had been dragged a phenomenal distance away from the ship. Diana treaded water, rapidly searching around her. A piece of wreckage or a life boat just something to get her out of the water. Another harsh wave rose behind her and slammed into her neck, forcing her into a worldwide under the water.

What felt like hours Diana finally felt sand seep through her fingers. They dug as deep as they could pulling herself from the freezing water. She flopped onto her stomach heaving out breath after breath, thanking all the gods on earth for dry land. Unknowing how long she had been lying there she turned her eyesight back out to the sea as she rolled onto her back. In the distance she could see the blaze of the ship sink further and further into the water until a sudden fireball consumed the whole thing, destroying the entire structure. Diana gasped in despair. The ship was gone. Had the location been given to the coast guard? Did the others make it off? Was her uncle alright? Did anyone else make it to the island?

Better yet, one question stuck in her pounding head: where the hell was she?

As second mate on the ship part of her job was navigation. She had checked the maps just that morning and these islands weren’t there. These were uncharted; which most likely didn’t bold well for her.

With a grunt she hauled herself onto her shaking legs, wiping as much sand as she could from her bare thighs. Diana shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and teeth chattering before scanning around.

“Ok, first things first: get a vantage of the land,” she spoke to herself, taking a wobbly step forward. She reached the edge of the jungle before stopping, squinting past the trees to try and see. “On second though, it’s probably best not to walk in a jungle at night”.

Without any other option she walked along the edge of the jungle, sticking rather close to the beach searching for any signs of life. Suddenly gravity gave out from underneath her again as she tripped over something. “Stupid fucking rock”, she hissed kicking her foot back in anger but shuddered when she didn’t feel a cool rock. It was the small and covered in something hairy. She prayed it was a grassy bolder but she wasn’t holding her breath. “It’s just a hairy rock. It’s just a hairy rock,” she whispered to herself, rising to her feet and walked further down the beach. She was thankful at that moment that she could see well, her curiosity would’ve gotten the better of her and she most likely would’ve grazed upon a horrific site.

Diana had marched for minutes when she felt her lip tremble. Her throat tightened as tears welled up in her eyes, suddenly coming to grasps with the situation she was in. The cold dreaded feeling of despair surrounded her like a fog, constricting her into a ball. Resting her back against a bolder, the soaked blonde slid down to the cold sand curling her knees into her body whilst silently weeping into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, chapter 2 is done. The ship’s destroyed and Diana is in the island. 
> 
> I’ve thought of a bit of a cast (really should’ve done that before hand) but this is the cast:  
> Diana: Cara Delevingne  
> Luke: Rami Malek  
> Shanaid: Maia Mitchell  
> Alfie: Michael Rooker  
> Henry: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau  
> Audrey: Katie McGrath  
> Siddiq: Davood Ghadami  
> Andre: Stevie Bassaula
> 
> I feel like that’s a good cast at the moment. Might change it around, I don’t know but that’s for those who want a physical image of the characters.
> 
> What’s gonna happen next? Well tune in next time, to be continued!


	3. MARTYR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana's first day on the island doesn't go smoothly as things go from bad to worse

Streams of sunlight shone in Diana’s eyes when she weakly opened them. A cool breeze grazed past her shoulders as she stiffly rose to her feet. Her clothes were slightly firm from the saltwater drying, making her rub her hands over to try and stretch it out. She hissed in pain as she pulled out the hairband keeping her solid blonde locks up. It felt like she was running her hand through shredded cardboard. God, what she would give for a shower. There was also a dull ache on her forehead spurting more pain when she pressed her palm against it. No doubt there was a bruise from where she hit her head. 

Gazing out over the sea she saw no remanence of the cargo ship besides from some floating debris. Now it was day Diana took in her surroundings. She had to admit this island was beautiful. The sea was a sapphire blue and clear, gently washing against the white sand that gleamed like diamonds. The palm trees at the edge of the jungle provided a cool shade along with the call of exotic birds. The only blemish was the numerous strewn of items washing up on the shore. 

“Ok, let’s see what we have,” she mumbled to herself, walking over to the first item. It was a cooking pot, slightly dented from its journey. ‘Could be good for collecting water’, she thought at first before dreading her next thought. ‘Did Andre get off the ship? Did anyone? Am I the only one who made it?’. No, she had to think positive. The only positive was collecting more items. Over time she had found a backpack, a camo jacket that had been drying off on the bolder she slept against, a torch though the batteries had been ruined, along with other useful objects. 

Diana had decided to tread down the beach to try and find more stuff before braving the jungle or hopefully a member of the crew. The jacket was hard as a rock when she pulled it on her shoulders but it was better than risking sunburn. Reaching down she grabbed a small little booklet, coming to a halt when she realised it was a passport. As fast as she could she opened it up for ID to see Siddiq’s emotionless face. Furrowing her brows, she held it to her chest for a second before shoving it in the bag. He’ll need that later. Please let there be a later. A hand ran down her face as her gaze shifted back to the foliage. She had to go in there sooner or later. 

“Just a bit and if there’s anything weird back on the beach,” she mumbled, gripping the strap of her backpack tightly. With one last deep breath she exhaled and began walking through the foliage. 

So far there hadn’t been anything too treacherous, in landmarks and wildlife. She had to climb up some harsh hills and passed by flowing rivers but all in all nothing too dangerous. The wildlife hadn’t been worst. Just a few snakes, lizards and spiders, though she definitely strayed away from the eight-legged creatures. 

Diana rested her back against her a tree, panting up to the sky as the heat beat down on her. ‘Damn it’ she thought ‘I should’ve found water first’. Maybe with luck, she could find a fresh water spring. She lowered her head in exhaustion when a glint flashed in her hazel eyes forcing her to flinch and squint. With rapid eyes, she searched for the source until it was discovered. Her hand gently caressed the metal pendent dangling from the chain on a twig.

“Shanaid?” Diana whispered in confusion, pulling the silver feather from the wood. Never in her life had she seen Shanaid take the necklace off, not even when swimming. Only then her eyes spotted a dark string tied off next to it. Grazing her hand against the sting she followed it, pushing the leave out of her face until it abruptly came to an end. ‘The hell?’, she thought taking a step backwards, eyes frantically staring around her. 

“AHH!” She yelped at the feeling of something tightening around her ankle, suddenly shooting off her feet. A sharp pain knocked the back of her head, making her powerless to even compensate what had happened. She moaned out in pain, eyes fluttering at the feeling of something dripping down her head. Casting her gaze to the ground she saw droplets of crimson splatter on the dry leaves. She must’ve cracked her head on a rock. A rock that was hanging from the ceiling? It suddenly occurred to her that she was hanging upside down by her foot.

With her eyes fluttering shut, Diana groaned desperately trying to stay awake. The blood rushing to her head wasn’t helping as noises around her started to muffle. The warm embrace of sleep felt better than staying vigilant and her brain was losing the battle to her body. Her vision had completed blurred when something broke through the foliage in front of her. It stopped for a second before flaunting towards her, a red blob being the only bold colour against the green leaves. Diana’s arms went limp as darkness finally warped her vision before she could make out any features on the figure.

———————————————————————————————————————————

By the time she Diana started coming around, she immediately felt a dull numbness in her arms. She groaned out, lolling her head from side to side as the world final stopped spinning. Panic set in when she couldn’t pull down her arms from their position over her head, realising they were tied to a stick of bamboo. In fact, she was surrounded by bamboo in the form of a cage. The old rope bit harshly into her wrists as she tugged harder, hoping the wood would break. Frightened pants fled her lips as her frantic hazel eye glanced around, taking in her setting. From what she could see it appeared like she was in a camp. There were some shacks not too far away made out of various metal along with other cages. To her horror she saw people in the cages, some beaten and bloody with tape over their mouths but all of them were tied up. Diana didn’t even recognise any of them. Who were they? 

“Hey, she’s awake” someone spoke, causing Diana to snap her head in the voice’s direction. Her lip tightened at the sight of two men standing outside her cage. One had their nose and mouth covered by a red bandana whilst the other had his face on show, red-faced and black-bearded. Both of them carried AK-47 making her unknowingly shifted away when the bearded one stomped closer.

“Boss said to bring her with the others,” he grunted, unlocking her cage.

“Who the hell are you?! GET AWAY FROM ME!” Diana yelled, kicking wildly as the man got closer. When she managed to kick his shin, he revolted by clenching his fist and punched her right in the gut. Winded she couldn’t fight back as he untied her wrist, grabbing her by her hair and tugged her out the cage. Diana’s own hands tried to pull his away, stumbling as the soldiers dragged her down a dirt path. The path was lit up by torches and neon lights, each cage guarded by a number of men. She could see the fear in the prisoners eyes as they passed sparking dread in her heart. 

Every pirate she passed was wearing something red, mostly tank tops or bandanas like how biker gangs would wear the same logo. Each one armed to the teeth with guns or knives. Diana almost gagged at a rancid smell when she was shoved past three hooked up pigs, one of which being dissected. Two dogs sat beside the butcher before facing her, probably smelling her scent. The only thing keeping their gnashing jaws from tearing her to shreds was a flimsy chain. Flies buzzed in her face causing her to shake her head to scare them away, only to catch the sight of something else hanging. Some by their hands, others their feet like she had been earlier that day or to her horror by their necks. The men wrenched her head away before she could get a better look though she had an eerie feeling on what they were.

It wasn’t long before she was dragged to another set of bamboo posts before a poorly lit stage. Two people were already tied up with their hands above their head, one of which were only touching the dirt ground by their tiptoes. 

“Get your hands off me!” she shouted when they pulled her arms from her sides and back above her head. Quickly the ropes were back around her wrists triggering her to kick again. They smirked at her mockingly at her weak attempts before marching away, an angered growl left her lips in their wake. 

“Diana?!” a voice called sounding shocked. Diana turned her head, finally realising who she was chained up next to. A small smiling weakly grew on her face in shock and surprise.

“Shanaid!” she gasped, noticing the girl had trembled in happiness. Taking in her appearance, Diana realised the young woman was no longer wearing her red leather jacket, only a stained white shirt. Her denim jeans had been ripped at the knees, the flesh underneath bloody with grazes. At the sound of a second gasp, Diana’s eyes drifted past the shaking girl to spot more eyes on her. “Luke!”.

“Diana? Oh, thank god!” he spoke breathlessly, struggling against the restraints. “Are you ok?”.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, drifting her eyes to the men who marched past. “Where the hell are we?”.

“I have no idea,” he hissed back, tilting his head so much that Diana noticed his black eye when the fire shone on his face. He was still wearing the clothes from the shipwreck, only having the sleeves of his blue flannel ripped off at the shoulders. He also had a few small cuts on his neck, potentially from being whipped by a plant or sliced with a knife.

Shanaid sniffed loudly regaining their attention, “They have my dad,” Shanaid wept, rubbing her eye against her shoulder. “They took him away earlier. We haven’t seen him since”.

“Did anyone else make it from the ship?” Diana asked. Luke opened his mouth but was cut off when a set of bright stage lights were turned on. Diana’s pants grew jaded, observing one man climb on the stage, tossing a rope over a beam in the centre of the stage. With this new light, she could spot dark spots staining the wood platform. She concluded it must’ve been blood. 

“What are they doing?” Luke questioned, his frantic blue eyes focusing on the rope that had been tied into a noose with a bucket placed upside down underneath it. At the sound of a pained grunt, Diana’s eye shifted away from the noose to behind the stage. Two more pirates appeared, dragging someone behind them.

“Shanaid, don’t look!” Diana ordered, her breath growing heavy at the sight suddenly realising who they were dragging. Her frantic eyes snapped towards her when she noticed they were still open, “Shanaid, I’m serious! Keep your eyes shut!”. Responding with a whimper, Shanaid shut her eyes tightly as Luke and Diana shared a wary glance.

The body was pulled before the trio, barely having the strength to stand on their feet as the noose was lowered and placed over their head. When it was secure the pirates tightened the strain on the rope forcing the person to choke out, leaping onto the bucket. Chuckles passed the pirates mouth as they tightened the rope more. They gasped out being forced to stand on their tiptoes to receive small amounts of air, the metal bucket starting to wobble. With a weak raspy croak, they open their left eye as the right was swollen shut locking onto the three. Diana’s eyes widened, not breaking eye contact with her captain. 

It was Henry.

His whole face was bloodied and bruised. From what she could tell his nose had been broken, crooked off to the side with dried cracked blood trailing down to his lips. On his cheek there appeared to be blistered burns stretching up the side of his face. With his arms tied behind his back, she could spot a deep wound in his right shoulder, almost like he had been shot or stabbed. 

“Holy shit,” Diana heard Luke mutter. Before Diana could even respond the sound of whistling reached their ears. Heavy footsteps stomped on the steps as the whistler marched on stage. The stranger was well built, wearing a red tank top that did nothing to hide his large biceps. The last of his black hair that hadn’t been shaved off was styled in a mohawk with a long-ridged scar flowing on the side of his head. They dragged on a note as they stood next to Henry, tilting his head when the captain shut his eye.

“Hey? Wakey wakey!” the man spoke, poking Henry in the forehead whilst gazing up at with wild eyes. When Henry didn’t respond, the stranger rolled his eyes and rammed his thumb deep into the wound in Henry’s shoulder. The captain yelled out in pain, snapping his eye open and clenching his teeth, “There we go, I knew you weren’t fucking dead!”.

“Now that I’ve fucking got your attention: To you and the little guests of honour over there, welcome to my island!” he cheered like he was going to get an applause from any of them. By now other pirates had begun to gather, like the one on the stage was performing a show. “How are you enjoying it? Eh? Is good enough for you? You getting any of that jungle fever yet?”.

Henry grunted, turning his head away only to move back when a pirate quickly tugged on the rope. Breath heavily flowed from his nose as he cast his eye back. 

The pirate smirked, pointing over to Diana and the others, “You see we got some of your friends over there. Don’t you want to say hello? Go on! Say hello you fuck!”.

Once again, Henry defied his commands and remained quiet. 

“I know you’re the captain of that ship. You knew everyone who was on there. I just wanna know their names. I mean you don’t want them to miss out on this fun little experience, right?” he questioned, getting really close to Henry’s face. Henry never responded, causing the man to rear back in anger. “Just get off your fucking high horse!” he shouted stomping a boot onto the bucket. He threatened his prisoner by slightly tilting it to the side. Diana continued to struggle against her restraints at the sight.

He gave Henry a wicked grin teasing the bucket to tilt a little further before whispering, “...And tell me what I wanna know”.

Henry clenched his teeth, releasing a strained groan as he tried to maintain balance on the bucket; his only lifeline. His eye darted from the man to the crowd of pirates, to his crew members. Luke had turned his head away by now but Diana’s eyes were unmoving filling to the brim with fear. That is when his eye drifted to Shanaid. Her eyes were still sealed shut with her head buried into her arm. A shaky breath escaped him as he gave Diana a single nod. The blonde held her breath, watching in horror as her captain snapped his head towards the deranged pirate next to him with a new fire burning in his eye. 

“I would rather die … than tell you anything, you psychopathic piece of shit!” Henry seethed before raising his head high. 

“You’d rather die, huh?” the pirate spoke almost like he was talking to himself, taking a few steps away from Henry. Henry’s breath became slow eyes locked on one person: his daughter. “You’d rather die?! Ok”.

At the simple word, the pirate kicked the bucket out from under Henry’s feet, instantly forcing the rope to cut off all air. Henry’s legs flayed about, his whole body flopping around like a fish as the crowd started to cheer or laugh. 

Luke snapped his eyes shut, gritting his teeth at Henry choking. Diana’s mouth gaped open, watching Henry’s face slowly turn purple and swell. She let out a whimper, turning away when the sclera of his eyes started to tint red. Tears welled up in her eyes as the gags became more ragged and wilder, along with the staining of the rope. 

“Hey! Open your eyes!” the pirate who had been guarding them snapped, giving her a light smack on the back of her head. Diana weakly opened them staring back up to the stage. By now Henry had only been twitching, his body failing, flaying around in small movements. One last croak left his blue lips before he stilled, causing a tear to drip down her face as she stared blankly down at the dirt. Luke had tightened his lip, slowly glancing up to immediately cast his eyes to the side, gasping out at the sight.

“OI! I said open your fucking eyes!” the same pirate yelled, turning his attention on Shanaid. The young woman was trembling heavily, uttering a cry when he wrenched her head up by her hair. A small whine creeped out, fluttering her eyes open. They doubled in horror at the hanging body before her.

“Dad?” she gulped, suddenly realising who it was. She stared directly at her father’s lifeless eyes, gaping her mouth wide open. His body just dangling there like the butchered pigs from earlier. Shock and horror radiated throughout her body, fighting against her restraints and cried out in pure anguish, “Dad?! DAADD!!! NO, DA-AH-AD!”

“Shut up,” a pirate from the crowd spat, totally ignoring her distress. Diana’s breath had grown deeper when the pirate marched up to them. A small growl went completely unnoticed. 

Fresh tears poured down Shanaid’s cheeks whilst she continuously cried feebly, “Daddy … no,”.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” the screamed, silencing her weeping girl by back-handing her in the face. When her pained cry reached her ears Diana snapped, using whatever core strength she had left to pull herself and kick the pirate in the chest with both feet. Her face contorted into a snarl, cracking her head back when another soldier grabbed her shoulder. A crunch rattled from their nose causing blood to flow. More pirates turned their attention to the scuffle finding it rather entertaining.

The trio and the pirates jumped when a gunshot went off. Diana stilled, feeling the pirate drop his hand from her hair when the shooter marched forward. The pirates separated, immediately straightening out as he passed. She heaved heavily, realising it was the pirate from the stage. Now that he was closer she noticed he had dark sunken in eyes, highlighting his rather bright green eyes. They were almost the same colour as the gem on his necklace.

“Seriously? You couldn’t keep these guys in line? That’s fucking embarrassing,” he hissed, aiming his gun to the pirate that was pulling himself from the ground. His body flopped down when the pirated pulled the trigger, shooting him straight in the forehead. Shanaid cried out at the sight making the man roll his eyes. They drifted from the sniffling girl to Luke. Luke immediately broke eye contact, staring down at the ground in submission. But a sudden glimmer of intrigue flickered in his emerald eyes when they focused on Diana. She stared back at him panting worryingly as he marched to stand in front of her. Their eyes connected, not either one of them breaking it. The other pirates watched quietly until the man spoke. 

“Carlos, have them taken back to their cage,” he ordered, gesturing towards Luke and Shanaid. Carlos stood forward along with another man, adjusting the AK strap over his shoulder.

“Yes Vaas,” he nodded, tugging Luke’s restraints off.

Vaas turned his attention back on Diana. She gasped out when he grasped her jaw, tugging her head to face him, “This one and I are gonna have a little chat”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, Diana has met Vaas! Sure they have exchanged names yet but hey it's a start. 
> 
> And yes, poor Henry is the first "on-screen" victim of the crew. Poor Shaniad. 
> 
> Things are gonna get pretty heated in the next chapter, so stay tuned!


	4. ESCAPE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana's talk with Vaas causes tension as threats are made.

Withered breaths expelled from Diana’s nose as she sat patiently. Every time she would wet her lips with her tongue a sharp pain would come from the split a pirate had honoured her with. When the pirates dragged her away from Luke and Shanaid she retaliated, struggling to get free only for one of them to back had her across the face. Now here she sat; the blood from her lip cracked and dried, sat on a wheelie stool with no back in what appeared to be an office. Or a excuse for one. It was a mess with clothes scattered around and boxes of ammunition stacking against the walls. On the desk in front of her were discarded papers, multiple stabs in the wood, an ash tray that was filled to the brim with burnt out cigars and blunts, along with what looked like to be remnants of a white powder. _‘I doubt that flour’_ she thought, staring at it intensively. That when her eyes drifted to the wall behind the desk. Hung up was a picture of a woman, her skin tanned and eyes bright green with dread locks flowing over her shoulders. Diana would’ve thought it was from a porno mag, if it didn’t have darts sticking in it. The darts would’ve been a nice little weapon to keep concealed if her hands weren’t secured tightly behind her back. And even if she did somehow get free she couldn’t run. Not whilst she was in the middle of this outpost or with her friends still prisoners. Yep, these pirates had thought of everything.

Diana’s eyes snapped over to the door when it suddenly opened. A tremor of fear surged through her when those emerald eyes connected with hers. It was the pirates from earlier. The one who killed Henry. Vaas. He stared at her intensely, his boots stomping on the wooden floor as he towered over her. Her breaths grew heavier at the sight of Vaas unsheathing a dagger from her belt. Diana whimpered slightly when his free hand tightly grabbed her left forearm. Only to feel the ropes around her wrists loosen. Vaas cut her hands free, rearing back up and walking around to the other side of the desk. Diana took the opportunity to rub her wrists. They were raw red and scabbed over.

“Sorry about that,” he suddenly spoke, causing her eyes to snap up to him. “My men don’t know any respect”. She physically jumped when her slammed the knife down into the desk, so hard that it stood up. Just in reach. She could grab it if she wanted to. But at what risk? What if he grabbed it before she could? Plus, he had a gun. No, best to bide her time and entertain him for now. 

“Thank you,” Diana weakly croaked. She nearly flinched at the speed his eye snapped back to her.

“Your welcome! Finally! Someone with some fucking manners,” he grinned wildly, plunking down in the worn seat opposite her. Minutes were passed in silence, Diana shifting awkwardly on her stool as he seemed to deduced her, tilting his head from side to side every few seconds. 

His attention was pulled away from her when he opened a draw in the desk. Once again, Diana’s eyes flickered to the handle of the knife. Why was it just left there? It was so tempting. Just to try and take it. But Diana restrained her urge. He was baiting her, he must’ve been. This guy doesn’t seem like he’d leave anything to chance. 

“Let’s see,” he spoke to himself, sitting back up in the chair. Diana spotted the mass number of passports in his hand, watching as he took one and lifted it up level with her face. “Nope, nope, nope,” each nope he tosses the passports back into the draw until he stilled at one.

“Ah, here we go. Hmm, Diana Shepherd. 25 years old from London, England. Long way from home,” he smirked. “Proper little _princesa_ , aren’t ya?”.

“I guess,” she shrugged. What did this guy expect? That she drank tea on a daily basis and knew the Royal Family just because she was born in England. 

“You know, heh, I, too, am royalty. I rule this fucking kingdom, so do you know what that make me?” he started with a chuckle before turning serious. Diana didn’t even get a chance to answer before he shouted, “A fucking king!”. She flinched at his tone shift. Was this guy bipolar or something? One second he was seemed calm then he was shouting.

Diana decided to take a chance and ask, “Why am I here?”. Vaas stared at her, leaning forwards to tug the knife out the table. Her breath grew quicker, fearing she had over stepped the mark, watching it with every movement.

More teasing, more making her fear for her life. Her heart pounding, her emotions raging high. Only for him to slide it back in its sheath at his hip, “’Cause you’re a smart girl. I can tell”, he glowered, “I know you’re from that ship”.

“I-” she stuttered but he cut her off.

“No, no, no. Don’t even try to lie. We haven’t blown up any other ship’s than that one last night and suddenly people are washing up on my island. Including you,” Vaas boasted, pointing his finger at her before his eyes drifted down her body, causing her to shuffle uncomfortably. “I’d remember one as pretty as you”. 

_“Maybe in a different life, psycho,”_ she thought. No matter how much it disgusted her, she couldn’t deny his attractive features, even with the scar. Diana quickly wiped those thoughts from her mind.

“There’s only two things I need: the names and numbers of those on that ship,” Vaas concluded, relaxing in his chair.

Her brows furrowed, “What about Henry?”.

“Who?” he inquired, actually looking confused. He tilted his head, pointing his thumb to the door, “What? That _gringo_ out there I hanged?”. Diana exhaled, feeling tears build in her eyes when he didn’t shy away from the horrific details, “Eh, useless, weak, wasn’t gonna survive with those burns. Would’ve been hard to sell. I did him a favor, _princesa_ ”.

It was sick. It sickened her. How calm he was about killing a human. And saying it was mercy, like putting down a terminally ill dog. It caused her gut to twist.

“You help me, I’ll help you,” he bargained. “How many people were on your ship?”.

Diana’s lip trembled, glancing down to her feet with a tear leaking from her eye. “There— there were 50 on the ship”.

Vaas smiled smugly, “That wasn’t so hard was it?”.

“No, wait. Was it 50? Or 1000?” Diana spoke, changing her gaze from terrified to stone cold. “Or was it 16? Or even 3? I’m sorry, my memories not like it was”. Vaas glared at her in silence as she sneered, wiping away the fake tear. “Do you seriously think I would tell you anything? After what you did? Go fuck yourself!”.

By the end of her defiant speech, Vaas’s smirk had vanished from his lips. His eyes now as sharp as hers, like they were having a stare off. Suddenly, he spoke.

“Fine, we can deal with this another way,” he shrugged before glaring at her intensely, “Stand up”. Diana furrowed her brows at his odd request still holding onto that resistance until Vaas slammed his palm down hard on the table. “Did I fucking stutter?! Stand up”.

She jumped at his sudden burst of anger, swallowing a lump whilst biting her lip before rising to her feet to avoid angering him further. Her hands remained clenched at her sides as Vaas leaned back in his seat. She had fucked up. She knew she had fuck up. God damn, her stubbornness!

“Take off your shirt,” he ordered simply while giving her a nod as if it was a normal request.

Diana’s eyes widened slightly, hearing those words rattle in her brain. “What?” she asked mortified like she didn’t hear him.

“Take … off … your shirt,” Vaas repeated more slower this time. 

She stared at him like he was crazy, hardening her gaze and uttered, “No”.

“Take it off or I’ll bring a piece of Luke in here,” Vaas threatened, tilting his head and gave her a devious grin. It grew when he spotted the horror grow in her eyes, “What do you think he’ll prefer; his hand or his foot?”.

“You wouldn’t,” she disagreed, letting out a shaky breath, “You see us a product, I can tell. You damage the product, you damage your profit”.

“You want a bet?” he chuckled mockingly before giving her an even more evil stare, “What about that girl out there? What’s her name, Shanaid? I’ve seen my men looking at her. One word from me … and they’ll take her every which way they know”. Diana sighed out in hopelessness, keeping her body as still as possible. As if she believed remaining still will make her disappear. Vaas gazed at her for a second longer before shaking his head. Pushing himself up on his chair he quickly reached for his radio. At that moment Diana suddenly realised that he was serious.

“No, wait! Wait, wait,” Diana begged holding her hands out. Vaas stopped, casting his gaze back to her; not withdrawing his hand away from the radio, gleaming a smug smirk and a raised brow. She let out a ragged breath through her nose, clenching her jaw tight. A small shake tremored through her body as she stared him in the eye, his own unmoving. _‘He can’t hurt them. Not at my expense,’_ she thought. After blinking away the small build-up of tears her hands grasped the bottom of her grey tank top. In a regular pace, she pulled her arms through first before lifting the item over her head, tossing it hard to the ground. Vaas’ eyes immediately trailed down to her chest that was only covered by her lacy black bra. 

“Go on,” Vaas encouraged, gesturing to the bra. 

Diana felt like she was going to be sick, a new wave of tears forming back in her hazel eyes as she stared ahead. Her arms seemed to go on autopilot as they reached behind her back, unclipping the garment. The quietist sob left her lips when she pulled it away from her body, feeling disgusted that her breast were on full view to the pirate king. She could only cover as much flesh in her hands as she crossed her arms. Her breath came out harder when he stood, undoing the belt holstering his pistol and knife from around his waist, placing it on the seat he had been sitting on. As slow as he could, Vaas stalked around the table towards her. She was frozen on the spot, focusing all her will to not express any emotion. He smirked in delight towering over her when he spotted the small trembles in her body, kicking the stool she had been sitting on away. Diana grimaced, feeling his hand reach up and caress one of her blonde locks, leaning in rather close to the rest of her head. 

Finally, she cried out; the whole front of her body hitting the desk as Vaas forced her down by her neck. He manoeuvred himself behind her whilst keeping a tight grasp of her hair, pressing his front into her back. All Diana could do was press her palms flat against the wood, desperately trying not to weep.

“Really? Even now; you’re still not cracking?” his chuckled into her ear, leaning over her, “Where’s the fire in that girl from earlier? Why are you no more than an empty sea shell?”. His grip on her hair tightened making her whine out a pained cry. 

“Last chance: talk”.

What was it going to be? Her or her friends? Could she really betray them like that? In what sane world would she have to make such a big decision like this. With a gulp she swallowed her pride. “You can do whatever you gonna do … and you can go to hell,” Diana spoke with nothing but venom lacing her voice. Vaas smirked, gently brushing away the hair that had covered her face, desiring a better view. She shuddered at the feeling of his fingers slowly glide from her neck and over the lines of her geometric lotus flower tattoo in the centre of her back, then down the rest of her spine as he reared back. His hips remained pressed firmly against her.

“You’re gonna be a difficult one to break, _princesa_ ,” he muttered, almost sounding like he admired her. But the stillness between them ended when his hand grabbed at her belt, “But I like a challenge and since you said I can, I’m happy to oblige”. Diana bit her lip, clenching her eyes shut at the feeling of her shorts being tugged downward. But before anything could develop, a loud banging came from the steel door.

“Vaas!” someone called, stilling Vaas’ movements as he let out an animalistic growl.

“I’m fucking busy right now!” he yelled, keeping Diana down by pressing his palm in the small of her back. Vaas’ gaze only flickered back to Diana for a second when more knocks rattled from the door, “I swear to fucking god, you fucking touch that fucking door again I WILL BUTCHER YOU!”.

“Sir, it’s Hoyt. He just radioed in!” the voice informed.

Diana’s eyes peaked open at the mention of a new name. Whoever this person was they must’ve installed some fear in Vaas. The way he suddenly stilled and removed his hands from her body suggested that. “What did he want?” Vaas questioned, hiding an almost frightful tone.

“He’s on his way here. Says he’s got more prisoners for you to deal with,” they answered. A single second of silence rattled the room before Vaas slammed his closed fist down on the desk just an inch away from Diana’s nose.   
  
“Agh, I’ll be there in a minute!” he yelled out, finally removing himself from behind her. A silent sigh of relief escaped her lips, watching the pirate pull his belt back through the loops. Only to avert her gaze when he turned back to her, “You’re very lucky, _pricesa_. Well … for now at least. I have a feeling we’re gonna continue this later”. Diana slowly peeled away from the desk as carefully as she possibly could, using one arm she covered her beast whilst reaching for her bra with the other. 

“No, no, no,” Vaas spluttered, kicking away her bra and shirt out of her reach. He grabbed her upper arm and tugged her to her feet. “Your not gonna need those anymore”. Diana cried at Vaas pulling her to follow. It wasn’t long before he was shoving her in the arms of another pirate, ordering them to ‘put her back in her cage’. With a final devilish stare he marched off, most likely to meet with Hoyt as the pirate’s painful grasp lead her back to her wooden cage.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Diana had lost all sense of time; her arms numb and lifeless. Every time the pirates passed her cage they’re eyes always cast down to her bare breast, mocking her and making snarky comments. All she could do was shiver in disgust and lower her tired eyes to the ground. It’s not like there was any point anyway. Once Vaas was done with this Hoyt he would most likely continue what he started earlier. He didn’t strike her as a man who’d make empty threats.

Diana’s quivered against the cool breeze that blew over her, trying to tug her arms closer to her body, though it did nothing to warm her. To her dismay, she could feel her body giving up to her exhaustion. With her breath laboured and eyes heavy, her mind wanted to stay awake but her body had other plans. 

Droop. Open. Droop. Open. 

Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she felt something warm cover her mouth; her hazel eyes immediately snapped open. As if she had been shot with adrenalin, her body thrashed around trying to free herself from the hands grip. Only to hear light ‘shushing’ whispering in her ear.

“Shhh, Diana, it’s ok. It’s me, Siddiq,” he whispered. Diana turned her head as much as she could, spotting Siddiq in the corner of her eye. A gasp of relief passed her lips as he pressed a finger against his lips, signalling her to be quiet. “It’s ok. I’m gonna take my hand away. Be quiet, alright?”. Diana rapidly nodded silencing her whimpers. As slow as he could, Siddiq pulled his hand away allowing Diana to breath.

“Oh my god, Siddiq! I can’t believe you’re alright!” she huffed quietly, frantically flicking her eyes back and forth in case any pirates were nearby. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, eyes slightly wide at her ragged and shirtless appearance. 

“I’m fine but Siddiq, you’ve gotta help us,” she begged, tugging against her restraints. Siddiq followed her gaze and quickly started trying to undo the rope.

“’Us’? The others made it?” he heaved, struggling to undo the tight bonds.

“Yeah. Luke and Shanaid are here too,” she informed. 

“Shit!” he cursed, shuffling up slightly so Diana didn’t have to twist her head so much. “These binds are too tight. I can’t undo them. Do you know where I can find a knife?”.

“No. But all the pirates have guns, they’re bound to have knives,” she shrugged. 

Siddiq paused for a second before giving her a apologetic glance. “Call the guard over”.

“What?!” she hissed.

Siddiq placed a calming hand on her shoulder, looking her dead in the eye, “Just do it! I’ll do the rest”. With that he shuffled backwards into the bushes, still in a kneeling position and out of sight to the blind eye. Diana bit her lip, staring worryingly ahead of her. The sickening thought that she’d have to sit and purposely let the guard stare at her, made her shake in disgust. Yet Siddiq was free. They didn’t know he was here. And that was a chance. Diana gulped and heaved heavy breaths before calling out.

“Hey! Guard!” she yelled. The guard turned around to face her, giving her a crooked grin as his eyes immediately flicked down to her breasts. 

“What?” he questioned, strutting over to her.

“P-please, please can I have water,” she begged, using the fact that she actually hadn’t had a single drop since yesterday.

“Water, huh?” he quipped with a raised brow, bending over to get a better angle. The pirate stood silently for a second like he was actually thinking it over before raising up and grabbing his crotch. “How bad do you want that water, _puta_?”. Before she could answer, the pirate let out a pained grunt, collapsing face down to the ground. Siddiq stood over him, tightly grasping a large rock that was now stained with a splatter of blood.

“Holy fuck!” Diana gasped, watching Siddiq search the pirate for a blade. 

“He’s fine, only knocked out,” Siddiq spoke nonchalantly, checking his pulse after finding a dagger.

“I don’t give a shit if he lived or died,” she spat, glaring daggers at the unconscious pirate. A sigh of relief left her lips when her hands were finally free. They fell limply by her sides as she rubbed them gently. Diana quickly shifted onto her knees, jittering slightly as she waited for Siddiq to unlock the padlock keeping her in the cage. He carefully placed it on the ground, along with the chain, like even the tiniest noise would attract unwanted attention and unbuttoned his dirt stained tanned shirt.

“Here, put this on,” he whispered, turning away from her to continue searching the body. Without haste, Diana pulled it on, tying the excess shirt into a knot around her waist. “Take this,” Siddiq ordered, offering her the knife he just cut her free with. Diana stared at it uneasily, clenching her fist to cease its shaking before taking it from his hand. Siddiq had taken the rifle and a pistol and used the rope that once held her around the pirate, tying his hands behind his back before dragging him off to hide him in the bushes. By now Diana took in his appearance. From how he looked, he hadn’t had any trouble with the pirates. Only a few bruises on his arms and scratches. His grey tank top on stained by a few scrapes of mud. He must’ve got off lightly when it came to the ship.

“Come on, we gotta find the others. Stay quiet and close,” Siddiq softly spoke, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Diana nodded, following behind him as they checked over every cage they passed. It shattered her heart listening to the muffled pleads of the captives. They were just regular people like her and Siddiq. She was just lucky that Siddiq freed her. She desperately wanted to take the knife and cut them free of their bonds but what if the other guards noticed multiple prisoners missing. They’d be screwed. 

“Diana, that’s them,” Siddiq whispered restraining his happiness to a smile. Snapping out of her thoughts; Diana glanced up to spot Luke and Shanaid tied back up in their cage. They sat opposite each other, along with someone else

“Holy shit, Audrey’s there too,” Diana gasped. Siddiq’s eyes widened at the sound of his girlfriend’s name. A huff left his mouth, quickly crawling over to the cage. Diana followed, kneeling beside Siddiq as he shushed the trio. 

“Hey. It’s ok, we’re gonna get you out,” Siddiq promised as the three struggled against their restraints. “Just stay quite”.

“Oh, thank god! You guys are ok!” Luke sighed in relief as Siddiq used the key to unchain the cage door. Diana kept watch whilst Siddiq crept in, cutting them free one by one.

“Audrey, you ok?” he asked when he freed her. 

“Yes. Oh, babe, I’m so glad you’re ok!” she whimpered, throwing her arms around his neck. Siddiq responded, pulling her close as Luke and Shanaid crawled out the cage. 

“Diana! What happened to you?” Luke asked, noticing that she wasn’t wearing her original clothes.

Diana shook her head, responding, “We’ll talk later, right now we need to get out of here”. 

“How?” Shanaid snivelled, wrapping her arms around herself as her eye frantically flicked around.

“I found a lose panel,” Siddiq informed, offering the pistol to Luke. Luke shook his head but begrudgingly accepted it, gripping it tightly. “Stay close, stay quiet, keep your eyes open. If you see a guard, tell us. Just stay together. We’re nearly free”.

Everyone nodded, staying in a couching position; following in tandem as quietly as possible. Siddiq leading and Luke nervously bring up the rear. Diana tightly gripped Shanaid’s hand, offering her as much comfort as she could in their current situation. It wasn’t long before they reached the wooden wall that must’ve surrounded the whole camp. As carefully as he could, Siddiq grasped a loose panel moving it out of the way, poking his head out to see if any guards were patrolling. 

“Alright, come on,” he whispered. Everyone squeezed through the gap and Siddiq replaced the panel like it had never moved. Once it was secure, they all broke out into a sprint, shoving the plants out of their way as they ran. 

Pants echoed through the trees as they rested. The group had been running for about 15 minutes according to Siddiq’s watch and they figured they were far enough. 

“I can’t believe we got away!” Luke chuckled wearily, resting against a tree. Diana nodded weakly, watching Audrey hug Siddiq again, pulling him down into a kiss before rubbing her thumb over a small bruise on his cheek.

“Yeah, well, the further we are away from that camp the happier I’ll be,” Diana heaved. Her eyes fell to Shaniad, who sat by a tree still not speaking a word. 

“She’s right. They’re bound to notice you’re gone soon,” Siddiq agreed talking Audrey’s hands in his, “We’ve got to find shelter. Then find a way off this damn island”.

Everyone shared a nod of agreement before Siddiq started hiking in the opposite direction of the camp. Audrey remained close to him, hugging tightly on his bicep whilst asking him all sorts of questions. Shanaid wrapped her arms around herself walking after the couple whilst Diana and Luke walked side by side at the back. A few minutes had passed and the groups breath had returned to normal, their throats all dry and desiring the smallest sip of water. Luke flinched at every sound the jungle made, anxiously glancing back and forth. He sighed, casting his gaze over to Diana who hadn’t said a word; eyes falling down to the shirt she was wearing. Luke knew that wasn’t hers.

“What happened to you?” he asked, watching her hazel eyes glance at him, “What did that guy want?”.

Diana huffed, rubbing the back of her neck like she could still feel Vaas grip. “He wanted me to tell him how many where on the ship. Wanted to get a number of how many could’ve made it to the island,” she answered catching on to his confused look. “They’re human traffickers, Luke. They were gonna sell you, me, Shanaid, anyone who made their cut”.

“And that shirt?” he quipped back. Diana’s eyes widened slightly, hands fisting the excess fabric till her knuckles turned white. “I know that’s not yours. What did he do? He didn’t-“.

“He didn’t rape me if that’s what you’re wondering,” she snapped, softening her hard glare at his saddened expression. She shuddered out a sigh at the feeling of him taking his hand tightly in her. “Sorry. He … he didn’t get the chance. I don’t want to talk about it. After all, I’m not the one who came out of this worst”. The duo glanced behind them at Shanaid who hand fallen behind slightly, dragging her feet on the ground. Luke gave the girl a sympathetic look, releasing Diana’s hand as she pulled back. He kept up his pace as Diana fell back to walk beside Shanaid.

Neither woman spoke for a second, before Diana turned her head to face her. 

“How – how did you get on the island?” Diana asked gently, trying to coax a conversation. Shaniad bit her trembling lip, exhaling heavily as she gazed to the night sky.

“Me and Luke got to the life boat, along with some others,” she spoke, struggling to control the tears building. “We rowed straight to the island”.

“Was my uncle with you?” Diana hesitated, slumping her shoulders when Shanaid shook her head, replying ‘no’. Suddenly Shanaid stop in her place, beginning to hunch over and dig her nails deeper into her arms. 

“Are you ok?” Diana said, glancing over to Shanaid. The girl nodded but quickly scrunched up her face, trying desperately to hold back the tears. “Oh, honey”. Diana pulled Shanaid towards her. Shanaid squeeze her arms around Diana as she wept.

“He’s dead,” she cried out, soaking Diana’s shirt with her tears. “They killed him, l-like he was nothing!”. Diana shushed her, stroking her maty brown locks to sooth her.

“I know, honey, I know,” she hushed, carefully wiping the tears that stained her cheeks away. “But your dad would want you to get off this island, ok? We’ve got to keep going”. Shanaid sniffled but nodded anyway. They quickly joined the others downhill, each one carefully scaling down a small drop. Luke and Audrey had already reached the jungle ground whilst Siddiq turned back to the two women. 

“Go on Shanaid, it’s ok,” he reassured taking her hand. Shanaid bit her lip as he carefully lowered her down to the small ledge before she climbed down the rest of the way. “Diana, you next”. Diana followed slightly slower than Shanaid had, her knuckles turning white as she gripped onto the rocks edge. God damn her fear of heights. She sighed in reprieve when her feet the dirt, noticing that the others had walked slightly ahead of them.

“Siddiq, come on,” she called. Siddiq nodded, tugging the rifle’s strap over his head. The sound of a twig snapping stuttered his movements however, turning back to the jungle they had came from. An uneasy feeling creeped over him, the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up. Letting out a sharp cry when a small chimp shrieked at him, scuttling across his path. He shook his head and climbed down to Diana who was still eagerly waiting. “You ok?” she asked, noticing his heavy pants.

“Yeah, just a monkey,” he shrugged, causing her to grin. He smirked back when her eyes fluttered shut at something splattering on her face. Followed by a bang and a ringing in her ears. Her heart pounded like a drum as her hand raised up wiping her cheek, bringing it before her eye. It was stained red. Frantically, her eye locked to Siddiq for an answer only to cry out in horror. His black eyes were wide, unimpressionable along with his mouth gaped open. Blood oozing from a hole in his cheek just under his right eye. A croak like he tried to speak uttered out before his knees gave out underneath him, falling to the ground on his back with a heavy thud. It took Diana a moment to register what happened, realising what caused the wound.

He had been shot.

“Siddiq!” Diana screamed, dropping to her knees. Her hands shook over his face, blubbering on what to do. The bushed behind her burst open as Audrey rushed back.

“What happen-, “ she started only to freeze when she spotted Siddiq. Her lip quivered, rushing over and falling on opposite Diana. “Siddiq! Siddiq! Baby! No, no. No-oh-no,” she cried, tears flooding from her eyes as she leaned over his chest, gripping his grey shirt in her fists. Diana panted, staring at Audrey when a tear leaked from her own eye. 

“He’s gone,” Diana whimpered. Audrey silenced, rearing back up. She shocked Diana when she spotted the hard-dead stare growing on her face.

“What did you do?” Audrey seethed with clenched teeth.

Diana’s eye fluttered at her question, “W-what?!”.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” she screeched. 

“I-I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do…” Diana stuttered, faltering when her eyes gazed upwards. Fear purging through her body, eyes doubling in size. 

Smoke emitted from the end of a pistol as it lowered to the shooter’s waist. Leering over the two women, Vaas stared directly into Diana’s eyes giving her a wicked grin, one that would put the devil's to shame. As soon as he gave a hand signal over his shoulder, yells erupted from behind. Numbers of pirates sprinted past him, wielded guns and blades straight towards the two women.

Diana grabbed Audrey’s wrists screaming, “Run!”. Yet Audrey didn’t follow. She just tugged her wrist back trying to wrench herself free.

“Get off!” she shrieked, gripping tightly onto Siddiq’s shirt. 

“AUDREY RUN!” Diana desperately begged as the pirates grew closer. “HE’S GONE!”.

Audrey finally tugged her hand free only to swing it back into Diana’s face, “GET OFF YOU HATEFUL BITCH!”. Diana rubbed her cheek, staring at Audrey in utter disbelieve. Her eyes switched from Audrey to the pirates, noticing Vaas had joined the chase, staring directly at her. 

Diana rapidly scrambled to her feet, digging her nails into the dirt as she sprinted away in the opposite direction, regetfully leaving Audrey behind. She heaved, ignoring the nicks from the plants scratching her legs when Luke and Shanaid came into view.

“D-” Luke started but she immediately cut him off.

“RUN! THEY’RE COMING!” she cried, watching their faces turn from concern to horror hastily turning around to run away. Diana turned her head back at the sound of Audrey’s screaming, calling out for Siddiq. They only silenced after another gun shot. Her heart shattered, scrunching up her face when her fear grew tenfold at Vaas, practically bellowing orders to his men.

“I WANT THEM BACK ALIVE!”.

More gunshots rang out, trees splitting as bullets made contact with them. All the jungle passed in a blur, all three of them heaving as pounding feet seemed to grow closer. Each second, each rapid footstep only fuelled the horrifying gut-wrenching terror that engulfed their minds. No matter how many small dips in the terrain they slid down or large boulders they leapt over the pirates speed didn’t falter, mocking the trio even louder than the dogs they freed.

They came to a stop a large rock wall, stretching on for miles. Fearful pants departed their lips, shrinking away at the glaring beams from flash lights that peaked through the plants. Shanaid’s eyes suddenly cast down, the light providing her with the ability to spot a small crawlspace that went through the small cliff.

“This way!” She informed, immediately dropping to her knees before shuffling into the tight space. Diana and Luke glanced for a second before swiftly following. Shanaid whimpered as she crawled through as fast as she could with Diana trailing behind and Luke bringing up the rear. Luke crept halfway through only to feel a searing pain in his ankle crying out “Shit!” as he was pulled back out. The nasty snarls of a dog filling the crawlspace causing Diana to look back.

“Luke no!” she shrieked as she grabbing his hand, frantically trying to pull him back. Luke tried to help Diana win this tug-of-war by kicking his free foot but felt another set of hands grab his other ankle. 

“Diana, go!” he yelled, releasing his grip on her hand.

“NO!” she protested but he shoved her back with his free hand.

“Just go!” he ordered, being pulled completely out of her sight. She crawled away from the set of hands trying to grab her, flipping on her hands and knees as she reached the end of the crawl space. To her dismay, Shanaid wasn’t in sight but Diana could hear the pirates getting closer. She had to keep running. Breaking out into a sprint, Diana ran faster than she ever had, lungs burning at every inhale, arms and legs now being cut up by the foliage trickling blood down her limbs. 

Until suddenly she broke through the vegetation, skidding to a stop before she could tumble over the cliff. Huffing she stared down at the ocean lapping below, waiting to swallow anyone whole. Could she make that?! It was such a great distance away. Diana’s fear reared its head again, making her take a few steps backwards. She turned back to the jungle again, hindering when Vaas suddenly stepped through. He didn’t rush towards her like she feared he would. He just smirked, stalking closer to her with every step. She countered his steps by walking backwards, back towards the cliff edge that lead to the open sea.

“Only two ways this ends, _princesa_ ,” he teased, her fear increasing when another pirate crept out aiming his rifle at her. “You wanna be free? Be free,” he uttered pointing in the direction behind her, “Who knows you might survive. That’s if the rocks don’t get you. And if the rocks don't, the jungle will. You don’t wanna die, do you? Like your pal Henry?”. He was playing her, teasing her. An elaborate game of cat and mouse. What were her chances of surviving the fall? What were her chances of surviving if he caught her?

The pirate suddenly grunted, stumbling whilst dropping his gun when a rock connected with his head. Both she and Vaas glanced over, spotting Shanaid peeking out from the jungles edge.

“Diana, RUN!” she screamed, feeling arms wrap around her from behind. 

That split decision. Diana made it. 

She spun around, dashing straight towards the edge. She could hear Vaas, boots quickly stomping after her. Her heart pumping faster, adrenaline flowing through her veins, the crawling feeling that Vaas was only a few steps behind her. Diana leapt hearing Shanaid’s last call after her. “Don’t stop! Keep running! KEEP RUNNING!”.

Diana screamed; arms flaying, wind rushing past her hair like she was caught in a wind tunnel. Dread fuelled her body. The longer she fell, the more scared she became. Gravity gave no resistance, no drag. She just plummeted down to the crashing sea.

Vaas growled, glaring over the cliff as she fell. Even seconds after she plunged in the water he didn’t remove his gaze. Every flicker they made, they did so to detect any sign of life. Yet there was none. Diana never resurfaced. He could hear Shanaid’s struggling grunts at the pirate, who brought her before him.

“You’ll never catch her now!” Shanaid mocked, glaring at Vaas as he slowly turned his head towards her. She trembled as he marched up to her, immediately losing all confidence. His emerald eyes staring directly into hers, face to face. So close that she could feel his seething breath on her cheeks.

Vaas menacingly hissed, “We’ll see”. He smacked her cheek twice before walking back to the jungle, the pirate trailing after him whilst dragging Shanaid with them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, farewell to Siddiq and Audrey. Couple in life and now in death. But Diana got away so that's good right? Oh boy, I wish it was.
> 
> So, not gonna lie, I haven't updated in a while. Felt like being with my family for Christmas and then some drama occurred (I'll spare you the details) and on top of that, good old Boris put England back into lockdown so I have had a wave of college work to do. But I'm still gonna try and pull through and post more chapters. 
> 
> Plus, I've also suddenly fallen under the spell of Johnny SIlverhand from Cyberpunk and I haven't even played the damn game. And my overactive brain has been coming up with plot bunnies so "thanks brain!".
> 
> A little hint for the next chapter: things might get a little bitey.
> 
> See ya round.


	5. OCEAN BLUES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Diana’s escape leaves her in a threatening position.

The waves crashed against the rocks, drowning out the ragged inhale Diana heaved when she breeched the surface. For as long as she could, she held her breath under the surface, praying that Vaas would think she had drowned if she didn’t resurface immediately. Hacking as much rancid sea water from her mouth with a grimace on her face as it stung the multiple cuts on her body. She gazed up to the edge she had just jumped from. Whether it was from the distance or exhaustion, Diana couldn’t see anyone leering over. Christ, how high was that jump? How did she even make it? Though her body was certainly feeling the consequences of the jump. Her bones and muscles ached as she treaded water, slowly swimming closer to the cliff face. A hiss left her mouth when she heaved herself up onto a rock that partially sat out of the water.

“Shit,” she muttered, noticing bruising had started to form on her arms. Being out of the ocean, blood started to trickle from every wound, collecting on the rock underneath. Dread suddenly flooded her body as she glanced back up again. The damning realisation finally set in her mind: she was back where she’d started. Everything they just did … was for nothing. Siddiq was dead. Audrey was dead. Luke and Shanaid were once again prisoners for all she knew. And she was alone, stranded with no means of rescue. Only this time she now knew she was stuck on an island full of psychopathic pirates. Diana began shivering, tightening her arms around her body as she glanced around. The moonlight shone against the lapping water, so bright that she could just see the ocean floor beneath where it wasn’t too deep. The only other thing it highlighted was a small beach area a short distance away.

 _“Maybe if I stay close to the cliff wall I could make it,”_ she thought. It’s not like she could sit there on the rock for the rest of the night, however long that would be. By her guess it was probably early hours of the morning. Plus with the jump she just made, she might’ve had a head start against the pirates.

Pushing her nerves aside, Diana lowered herself back into the sea, gasping out at it crisp frosty temperature. With clenched teeth, she steadied her breath before pushing away from the rock, braking out into a breast stroke. Her legs ached with every kick; breath growing heavier as she neared the cliff face. When she arrived, she treaded water for a few seconds, holding onto a piece of the cliff as she evened out her breaths.

“Come on, you can do this,” she said to herself. A sigh passed her lips before she began swimming in the direction of the beach. Each stroke tired her; the beach feeling like a mile away. The further it seemed, the more agitated she became. Annoyed and angry.

“Nice journey to Indonesia what the fuck could go wrong?” she grunted sarcastically, letting out a dry laugh. “Fucking ship gets blown up. Don’t know where half of my fucking friends are. And stuck on a fucking island with fucking psychos! Yea, nothing can go fucking wrong!”.

As she swam she continued muttering to herself, closer to the beach. Underneath her she could see the moonlight glimmer against colourful coral, gliding seaweed and small shimmering schools of fish. They circled around her for few seconds, before suddenly swimming away. Though that didn’t matter to Diana. She just want out the sea and off the damn island.

“I swear to god when I get off this damn island I’m gonna treat myself to takeout for a we-,” a surge of fear flooded her at the feeling of something bumping her thigh. A round rough object that disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Diana’s eyes doubled in size, frenziedly casting her eyes around her; staring into the water to find the cause. Her breath was ragged coming out shakily as she treaded water. The eerie silence didn’t help her nerves, fear causing her heart to pound faster and faster.

Minutes had passed before she even gained the courage to move. She exhaled nervously, slowly and cautiously paddling away from the spot.

 _“It’s not that far, it’s not that far-,”_ she thought suddenly being wrenched down under the surface. All air escaped her as she screamed in pain, searing pain shredding through her right thigh. The ocean around her turned red in the glimmer of moonlight. Her arms flayed around clawing to reach the surface when she was tugged to the left then ripped to the right, tiny daggers slicing into her flesh. Her eyes clenched tight in pain at a tightening pressure crushing down on her femur. Diana shoved her hand down to her thigh trying to shove away the thing causing the excruciating pain. It felt as if her hands were rubbing against a rounded sandpaper surface, constantly shaking back and forth. Terror engulfed her body as she wrenched her eyes open. Though her vision was blurred she stared directly into the lifeless doll like eyes of a shark.

Any air Diana had left in her lungs started to deplete causing her chest tighten. In desperation, she clenched her hands into fists slamming them down into the predator’s nose. Its teeth sunk in further, thrashing faster as she struggled. Pain scorched every nerve, every muscle, every fibre in her body. With her teeth clenched her movements became more desperate, lashing as much as the shark was when she remembered her one tool. Her only defence, sitting in her pocket. Her hand dived straight in, tightly wrapping around the worn leather handle before wrenching it over her head and slamming it down into the shark’s head. Her opposite hand gave her brain a clear image of were the head would be as it pressed down onto the creature’s tough scales.

She grunted and growled every time she jerked the knife into the shark’s head. She could feel its grip loosening as its blood mixed with hers but she didn’t falter or slow. All the rage, the anger, the pent up frustration. All of it consumed her body, her very soul. She felt nothing else in the world but to bring this creature pain as it did her. Stab after stab, Diana didn’t stop until its teeth released, the weight completely vanished from holding her down allowing her to swim to the surface. The shark’s lifeless body sunk to the ocean floor as she braced the surface, yelling out in pain as she heaved in a breath. Her eye widened, gasping out in pain as her hand glided across her thigh. She felt a chasm in the flesh of her thigh, curved and stretching from the mid of her thigh to just below her hip.

The last of her adrenaline pushed her to thrash through the water in a freestyle ploughing through the water. She whimpered and cried in pain but she didn’t care. She just knew she had to get to the beach before any other predators decided to attack her. The blood in the water was most likely attracting other sharks for miles.

Diana heaved at the feeling of rough sand under her hands. Rising to her feet, she only limped a short distance before collapsing back to her knees. The waves splashed against her face, seeping into the fresh bite. The adrenaline finally faded from her body as fast as her blood leaked out. A pained growl seethed through her teeth as she hurled herself forwards, dragging her dead weight of a leg behind her. Her strength failed her, energy depleted, her arms unable to hold her up anymore. She let out a groan when her head hit the sandy ground. Diana’s eyes grew heavy, rolling back, struggling to stay open.

 _“Can’t fall asleep. Can’t fall-”_ she thought but even her mind started to go blank. The whole world began to blur, dark spots growing larger by the second. The sweet embrace of sleep was ten times better than staying awake. She couldn’t even react when the vegetation at the edge of the jungle started to move. Someone stepped through, pausing for a second before cautiously walking in her direction. How did the pirates get to her so fast? But she didn’t fight. Didn’t struggle. Didn’t even make an attempt to get to her feet. Not even the feeling of dread could travel around her body. She was just so weak. So tired.

 _“Fuck it. Just do it. I don’t care anymore,”_ Diana thought, all hope gone. No point in fighting. She sighed one last time before shutting her eyes, accepting the darkness.

—————————————————————————————————————————

There was the feeling of something soft under her body as Diana started to slowly regain consciousness. Her browns furrowed, eyes moving under her lids as she tried to open them. In her ears she could her metal clink against each other along with a soothing chirp of crickets. Her vision was blurred when her eyes first fluttered open. After a few blinks it became clear, causing confusion to grow. The room she was in had a soft warm glow from a lantern, sitting on a bedside cabinet next to the soft bed she was resting on. The walls around her were covered in pink wallpaper decorated with shelves that held worn teddy bears and other toys. A solar system mobile dangled above from the ceiling, spinning gently causing her to feel faintly dizzy. She rolled her head away to the left, catching her breath in her throat when she realised she was not alone. A man stood with his back to her, placing items into a tool chest. He had white hair and a dirty white lab coat, muttering to himself. Diana shifted away slightly only to hiss out in pain. The man turned around, watching Diana pull back the blanket that had been draped over her lower half. She stared down to her thigh discovering had been bandaged up. As had the other wounds on her body. Every cut, small or large, had either been stitched up and wrapped in more bandages or covered with plasters.

“Ah you’re finally awake,” the man spoke walking over to her.

“Finally?” Diana questioned with a raised brow.

“You’ve been asleep for a day and a half,” he answered. Diana flinched as he raised his hand only for him to press it to her forehead, “Your fever has gone down, that’s good”.

Diana took another glance around the room asking, “Where am I?”.

“You are in my home,” he replied as if it was obvious. “My name is Dr. Earnhardt”.

She paused for a second before responding, “Diana”.

“Been on Rook for long?” he asked nonchalantly. Diana tilted her head confused, “The island”.

“Not long enough to know there were sharks in the damn water,” she dryly chuckled, sputtering out a cough. Earnhardt quickly passed her a glass of water which she rapidly drank, rejoicing silently at the feeling of the cool liquid on her chapped lips and dry throat.

“You were lucky it was only a small shark,” the doctor spoke as he placed the last his tools back in their box. “A bull, if I’m not mistaken but your wounds should heal in a few weeks”.

“Didn’t feel like a small one,” she quipped back in a snarky tone. Diana stayed quiet for a second before asking a questioned that loomed on her mind, “Why am I even here?”.

Earnhardt turned back to her with a gentle gaze in his blue eyes, “Because Agnes said you were her friend. I’d do anything for my girl”.

The name caused her eyes to furrow. _“Agnes? Who the hell is Agnes?”_ She thought. Before she could question further the door to the bedroom opened, causing her to flinch. Only to see a girl walk in. For a second, she almost mistook her for Shanaid. But her heart dropped when she realised that wasn’t the case.

“Ah, Agnes, my dear. Your friend has woken up,” the doctor smiled, gleaming at the girl with fatherly love as she hugged him. Diana shifted awkwardly in her place watching the pair as the girl looked to her.

“Thank you so much,” she grinned with a childlike innocence, “Why don’t you get back to your work? The order needs to be completed by the weeks end”.

“Of course, thank you for reminding me,” Earnhardt patted her on the head before picking up his medical box. “Your friend needs to rest for now. Don’t go draining her of the little energy she has”.

“I won’t,” Agnes promised as she sat down on the bed next to Diana, who still continued to stare. With a nod, Earnhardt left the room closing the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps faded the childlike twinkle disappeared and her innocent eyes turned to a stormy grey.

“Look, Agnes, I don’t know-” Diana started only to be cut off by the girl.

“My names Skylar, not Agnes,” she spoke, gazing at her.

“Ok, Skylar. I think there’s a mix up; I don’t know you,” she stated looking over the girl. She was young, maybe in her mid-teens, with dark brown hair that was cut to just under her chin. Her doe eyes contained a storm of grey iris’ inspecting her with suspicion. In the faint light, Diana could spot a small scar stretching down her cheek underneath her right eye.

“Well you should. I’m the one who dragged you off that beach,” Skylar revealed. Diana’s eyes widened at the revelation. This girl … saved her life? “You weren’t easy to drag either,” Skylar added making Diana frown.

“If I was so hard to drag why’d you save me?” Diana snapped not enjoying the girl’s quips.

“Felt like it,” the teen shrugged turning her gaze wickedly whilst raising a brown, “After all, Vaas must want you real bad if he sends out half his men”.

Diana froze, shuddering at the name. So, her escape wasn’t a dream. Then that meant Henry, Siddiq, Audrey were really dead. Luke and Shanaid were taken again. What Diana wouldn’t give for this all to be a horrendous nightmare. Just so she could wake up on the ship and go back to laughing and joking with her friends. “If you tell him I’m here-” she began, looking at Skylar with fearful eyes only for the teen to cut her off.

“What are you gonna do? Run? Your leg won’t be healed for weeks,” she smirked, speaking in an equally wicked tone, “and if the pirates don’t get you the jungle will”.

Diana stared at her, clenching her teeth. _“The jungle will,”_ she thought. It was the exact same phrase Vaas had said to her before she jumped. She waited for Skylar to speak. Instead the girl started giggling.

“I’m sorry. I’m just kidding,” she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, “You’re just so jumpy. Tourist”.

“It’s not like I wanted to holiday here,” Diana jested back.

“Yeah, saw the fireworks show from here,” she nodded with a tilt of her head, referencing the ships explosion. “Not gonna lie, Vaas isn’t a favourite individual of mine so anything to piss him off is fun”.

A tiny smile flickered on Diana’s lips, “Seems foolish to poke the bear,” she responded.

“What he doesn’t know can’t hurt me,” Skylar remarked back with a playful grin. “Earnhardt’s said you can stay here as long as you need, plenty of time for that leg to heal up”.

“Does Vaas or his men come here?” Diana asked, glancing out the window. Not like she could see much out of it anyway. It was pitch black outside, the only light came from the glimmer of tiny stars in the night sky.

“Not often,” Skylar answered, following Diana’s gaze, “Every once in a while they’d come for a fix, even after the weekly order’s been delivered. They don’t even take a step in the house. You’ll be safe in here anyway”.

“A fix?” The older woman spoke with confused eyes.

“How do you think we live up here? Earnhardt makes drugs, keeps the pirates at bay and gets us money. You live on Rook Island you gotta adapt,” Skylar stressed, standing to her feet. “You’ll have to adapt too”.

Diana glanced down at the bandaged thigh again. Already the Island had taken its toll on her. “I don’t plan on staying,” she sighed.

“We all say that … in the beginning,” the teen said solemnly before inhaling quickly, “Get some rest. The sooner you sleep the quicker you’ll get to having breakfast in the morning”.

Diana nodded, grunting out in pain as she shuffled down the bed till her head rested on the pillow. She pulled the blanket back over herself, carefully resting it over her injured leg. As much as she wanted to stay awake and continue talking to Skylar, she knew the girl was right. She needed her strength, to regain her energy and let her leg heal. If it came to it and she had to run, she’d feel better running without a limp. Skylar quickly poured another glass of water from a jug for Diana in case she needed another drink in the night. She took a step towards the door but hesitated. A thought pondering in her mind for a heartbeat. She placed the jug back down and turned back to Diana.

The dark stare that formed on Skylar’s face causing Diana to unnervingly shift under the covers. The teen reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. Diana’s knife.

“Remember this?” Skylar asked, observing the blade. Diana nodded, backing away slightly when Skylar loomed over and pointed it at her, aiming directly to her face without breaking eye contact. “Take a look. Look how sharp it is. You do anything that may hurt Earnhardt or tell him my real name I will kill you with it … and don’t you think I won’t”.

Diana’s eyes flickered to the blade then to Skylar. She didn’t utter a word. She just responded with a firm nod. Skylar held her glare for another second, as if to get the message into Diana’s head, before rearing back up. With one last stare the teen turned and walked out the room, closing the door behind her. Diana exhaled heavily, tightening her grasp on the pillow when she shifted onto her uninjured side. There was fear in her heart but also … pity. Pity for Skylar. A child stuck on an island like this, threatening her with such fierceness.What had this place done to her to make her so defensive? So ominous?

Then anguish replaced the pity. A day and a half. That how long she was asleep. Who knows what had happened to Luke and Shanaid in that time. Were they still in Vaas’ camp? Had they been sold? Beaten or killed for their attempted escape? Her head thumped in pain, pounding like a thunder storm as her thoughts swarmed her minds. She bit her lip, shuddering out a breath. A tear ran like a river down her cheek as she closed her eyes, accepting the peace sleep brought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bitey bitey. God damn sharks. Being attacked by a shark would be my definition of hell, it is just 100% fuck no.
> 
> But Diana is safe (for now) in the company of the lovely Dr. Earnhardt and the protective Skylar.
> 
> Skylar’s face claim is the ever wonderful Maisie Williams.
> 
> I did better with getting this chapter out, somehow I managed to balance writing my college work that needed to be handed in today and writing at least for an hour at like 2:00 am in the morning. I am shattered. But hey good old Boris said England might be out of lockdown soon and night clubbing may recommence in June so woop, woop🎉.
> 
> But, yea, until next time. See ya round. ✌️


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